16mm film for still photography

<p>I recently picked up a Minute 16 made by The Universal Camera Company, I was just wondering if there is anyone out there who shoots 16mm that might be willing to work something out. I hate to buy 100' of film to see if this thing is gonna work, and I probably wont really use it anyway (unless it really surprises me) but, it would be nice to take a cassette or two of film with it just to say I did. I have 6 original cassettes, 5 of them still in the box with the metal canisters, mailing labels, info sheets, the works (exp date Jan 1957). There are 2 UNI-COLOR and 3 UNI-PAN (they came packaged 3 to a box) the Uni-Pan is a complete carton of 3. I would like to swap for 2 or 3 cassettes loaded with some sort of B&W film that I can process myself. Or if not maybe a short end roll and maybe I can reload these things myself. Of course I am willing to pay a little difference as well. If anyone is interested or has any info that can help, please email me at: <a href="mailto:lowlandscots@windstream.net">lowlandscots@windstream.net</a> </p><div></div>

<p>The film:</p><div></div>

<p>You need to tell folks if the film is single perf (one side) or double-perf (both sides).<br>

If it's not perforated, you need a slitter, and should slit 35mm film.<br>

You should really reload the cartridges -- they're rare.</p>

 

<p>I believe that 110 film is 16mm.....</p>

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<p>You need to tell folks if the film is single perf (one side) or double-perf (both sides)</p>

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<p>From the research I have done, It doesn't matter single or double, as long as you load the single with the perf on the correct side. <a href="http://www.grodgers.com/minute16.htm">http://www.grodgers.com/minute16.htm</a></p>

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<p>You should really reload the cartridges -- they're rare.</p>

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<p>I will if necesary but, like I said , I hate to buy a 100' roll, when each cassette only holds 12 inches. That's enough to do 100 cassettes of 14 exposures each, 1400 frames?</p>

<p>Somewhere I read that this is the Minute camera as in "small thing," not the Minute camera as in "1/60th of an hour." Anybody still alive who knows?</p>

<p>Interesting camera, I've seen lots of ads for them in old publications, and been sort of tempted at the idea, but Universal (Univex) was notorious for, made their living at in fact, producing non-standard cartridges so that only <em>their</em> film would work in their cameras (as with the Mercury I).</p>

<p>I wonder how hard they made it for owners to reload the cartridges?</p>

<p>I bought a Minolta 16 and a Kiev 30 a while back. Both use unperforated 16mm film (loaded into special cassettes). I did some searching, and it looks like the easiest way to buy 16mm film is from Joe in Colorado. He sells a pretty large variety of films in lengths as short as ten feet.</p>

<p><a href="http://www.subclub.org/sponsors/goathil2.htm">http://www.subclub.org/sponsors/goathil2.htm</a></p>

<p>I built a small apparatus to slit a 16mm strips from normal 35mm film. It works OK, but it turned into a slightly more tedious project than I had anticipated. I also glued together a tiny frame for scanning the negatives.</p>

<p>here's a set of my 16mm photos:<br>

http://www.flickr.com/photos/21506490@N00/sets/72157607142726686/</p>

<p>Thanks Scott, that may be just what I am looking for.</p>

<p>I used to have a Universal just like the one above (in 1957). I purchased it on a very limited budget in the hope that it would emulate the Minox that my top Sergeant had. It didn't! Here is a shot that I still have (of me in Lisbon) taken with it. I scanned the neg on a Epson flatbed scanner.</p><div></div>

<p>one possibility.on the cheap.<br>

look in a big walmart to see of they still have a few rolls of 110 kodacolor.<br>

slower is better.like 200.respool it on the cartridges<br>

after shooting, repack it in 110 cart or ask the lab if they accept loose film<br>

and send it to a lab that does 110.<br>

possible problems include:the 110 cart is hard to get apart with out destroying it. and the film is likely? "don't know" preflashed like 126 film.<br>

some of the photos would be unusable. but the total cost would be about $10.00. sort of a herky-jerky approach.<br>

there was a posting for RAW FILM or was it raw stock?<br>

where you could get shorter lengths of color neg film.<br>

thing is much movie film may have a black "rem jet" backing<br>

and this is a serios " no no" and can mess up even home processing.<br>

just thoughts.<br>

I have 16mm cameras and have given this some thought.<br>

the "cut down 35mm B&W" seems the easiest way to go.<br>

a home-made " back" with razor blades should work.</p>

<p> </p>

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<p>I purchased it on a very limited budget in the hope that it would emulate the Minox that my top Sergeant had. It didn't!</p>

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<p>All the more reason I don't want to buy 100' of film for it. Just mainly a conversation piece.</p>

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<p>I wonder how hard they made it for owners to reload the cartridges?</p>

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<p>It doesn't appear to be that hard to do if you aren't arthritic (like me) and can handle rolling very small film into a roll about the size of a dime, and then inserting it in the cartridge and winding it around and into the takeup side of the cartridge, then snapping the pieces back together, all in the dark. Also making sure that the perforation is on the correct side and obviously the emulsion is facing out. I'm pretty sure I can do it but it will require a few choice words before completion.<br />It seems like thay had a pretty good racket going, 3 cartridges for a dollar, each came with a mailing canister and shipping label you just wrap a dollar bill around the cartridge, insert it into the can and attach mailing label and they would send you back your processed film strip plus<strong> 14 album sized 2 1/4 X 3 1/4 </strong>enlargements.</p><div></div>

<p>Walter, I did a little checking and aparently 110 film is paper backed, I don't know if that would matter or not, is it perforated?</p>

<p>Contacted Joe at Goat Hill Photo and he can load them with Ilford HP5 for $5.00 ea. Or I can buy the flim for $1.00 per foot if anyone is looking for HP5 in 16mm. He says they don't make it anymore and this is the last of it.</p>

<p>Thanks for the post of the info sheet. That's the sort of ephemera that we usually don't get to see.</p>